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Tuesday, May 19, 2009

An Update and A Couple of Awards!

(Warning: This is a super long post! Sorry, but I had much to say! lol!)

The wellness challenge is under way! I've been so excited about this undertaking. And I've been trying to do it right, know what I mean? Taking stock of where I am and what I need to do to get where I want to be. I've even worked at discovering why I do some of the crazy things I do to myself. Over the weekend, I even "tried on" some of my new strategies...took them for a test drive. And it felt good. Monday morning, I was ready to kick some wellness butt!

But I'm having to work way harder than I anticipated. Isn't that how it usually goes? My workout partner was called out of town for work all week. There went my early morning get-my-butt-out-of-bed-because-someone-is-gonna-be-knocking-at-my-door wake up call. I'm having to dig a little deeper...OK, ALOT deeper...to roll out of bed each morning. And you should hear the conversations I'm having with myself at that early hour.

"Get your lazy butt out of the bed!

Just five more minutes.

Get up now. You know you will regret it if you don't.

Just five more minutes.

Get up now!

I can always work out tonight.

No you won't. GET UP NOW!!!!!!"

Get the idea? So far, I'm one for two. I worked out really hard yesterday...REALLY hard! And I was feeling good. Then today...I didn't make my play date with the treadmill. But I do have a really good reason for flaking out on him. I had to be at work extremely early today.

Which brings me to struggle number 2. Work has been ridiculously busy. We have been in the middle of a massive unexpected audit and it all falls on me. Guess that's what I get for the right to wear the title of "Accounting Manager". lol! Geez, I'm not even an accountant! I do have way more responsibility than a bookkeeper and even do alot of accounting work, but the title is a bit over the top! But hey, it sounds good when you get that occasional, "So what do you do for a living?" lol! The reason all this mumbo-jumbo about work is important is that with all my preliminary prep work, I've discovered I am a "stress" eater. Yeppers, I eat when I'm nervous and stressed. Of course, that is not the only time I eat...if so, I probably wouldn't have a problem. But it is the trigger for my mindless overeating of totally nutrient deficient grub. I go looking for comfort in a bag of chips, cookies, etc. So the never empty community candy dish on Cathy's desk and the vending machine have been calling my name on a regular basis.

The third tripper upper...having my babies home. Now that is something to confess to, huh? And yes, I guess I did just say/type that out loud. The problem is chaos has claimed my home, my sanctuary, my place where I recharge. We are all going in different directions, starting new jobs (Taylor), returning to old jobs (Keri), and trying to decide if we want to keep our jobs (me...just kidding). The fridge is empty and the pantry is not far from it. I guess I don't need to further explain why this is a problem.

BUT! And it is a big BUT! I feel good about where I'm at. No, I have not been perfect and circumstances have certainly not been ideal. BUT, it is OK. Because this is life. This is what it is all about. Learning to roll with it and do what I need to do. So I missed one workout, but I've only missed a handful of workouts in the past 7 months. And none of those misses caused me to lose my focus. They were for good reasons and I have to allow for that. And my diet hasn't even taken that big a hit. I've learned to love McD's salads. If you've gotta go for fast food, make it the best food you can. I've learned to give the vending machine the brush off and I'm taking baby carrots and raspberry vinaigrette dressing for a snack. YUM! My daughter introduced me to Clif bars. Great for a quick breakfast on the go. I've even befriended the candy dish. Made nice. I've realized a couple of mini tootsie rolls and I'm a happy girl. Not perfect, but I was never striving for perfect anyway.

I guess my point is, despite the setbacks and the struggles, I'm making it. And the whole point was to focus on what I'm doing to move forward in a positive way. I could dwell on the slip ups and wallow in what I can't do right now...like cook nutritious dinners...but I choose not to. It is a choice. My choice. For now, it is the choice that works for me.

Now I must share two wonderful awards I received from Melissa. Please take the time to stop by and tell her hello. She is a genuine sweetheart with amazing scrapping talent. I only discovered her blog recently, but I feel like we have become fast friends. The first award is the Lemonade Stand Award. Here are the rules of this award:

Comment on this blog.Cut and paste the award logo and use it in your own blog.Nominate 5 to 10 blogs you feel show great attitude and gratitude.Link to your nominees within your blog post.Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.Link back to the person who gave you the award to show your appreciation.

The second award she passed on is the Friendship Award. I have to admit, I felt very honored to get this one. I love what it stands for.

The Friends award is described as follows:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to five bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

This is the first time I've ever done this. I usually follow rules to the letter. But this time, I have to break a few rules. These awards symbolize something special, especially the Friendship Award. I can't bring myself to narrow it down to 5-10 bloggers. You guys are all so, so special to me. I feel a connection to each and every one of you. So if you will please forgive me breaking the rules, I would love to pass these awards on to anyone who leaves a comment on this post. Snag the award for your blog and forward it as you see fit. I love you guys! You are all WONDERFUL!

31 comments:

I say you're doing GREAT! Life has slip-ups... big deal. Tomorrow is another day. This wellness challenge will work because you're looking at it as a change in lifestyle & not a "diet." That is life... it has its ups & downs, slip-ups & victories.

i emailed them about a month ago and they said they were either waiting for the products to arrive from their sponsor or waiting until they have a few winners to mail out. I was bummed bc my prize was suppose to be a collection of thickers. I think I will email them again. Rowee says she won back in 2008 and still hasnt recieved her either and same thing with of her friends. Its Sad.

Well I was stopping by to give you the same awards. I love that you passed it on to all your pals. You can check out my blog and leave a comment if ya want to....As for your wellness. I think you are already "WELL"... I know we all have room to improve and kudos to you for living life positively. You are a beautiful, strong, independent and wonderfully talented lady.Hugs.

Love "kick some wellness butt"!! Not dwelling on the slip ups is so smart but not always an easy task for me. Which is silly because dwelling on the negative or what I didn't accomplish gets me nowhere. Great post Lisa :)

Good luck with making your play dates with the treadmill. It does get easier.

I think that you are doing Fabulous!!!!!! The tootsie rolls are fine!!!!! Congrats on the working out.....I wish we were across the street so you could inspire me to get my butt out of bed and workout!!!!! I have that same conversation every morning!!!!!! Thank you again for your kindness with my gift!!! I so adore you and so look forward to our phone calls. I just love you sweet friend!!!! Have a wonderful week!!!!! You are an INSPIRATION!!!!

It's always nice to read your post. Your are authentic and that what makes you special. I try to see the good thing's I do in a day and feel good about it. When I read the accounting audit, it remind me of my first job. It seems that it was always month end. I only had one week of normal work and the rest of the month was month end.lol. I wouldn't go back to that kind of job. I've made changes and realized that I am not fit for office job, I'm more of a manual person, meaning I need to move or at least work with my hands. My passion right now is my blog. I posted a lime pie recipe this morning on my blog. I admit, it's not for people who want to follow a diet but it's healthy ingredient and yes it does have alot of calories. The trick is not to have it on a regular bases. Make it for a special occasion.The recipe is from the restaurant I was talking about here in Montreal. Vegetarians restaurant. My advice, be good to yourself, you're doing well. Let's keep in touch!

Oh beautiful lady......I couldn't ever get it together to get up and go to the GYM!!! I used to get up and walk before I had the girls, but now its just to much effort...well so I thought, but my friend susanne and i are going to walk again each morning after I have dropped my kids off to school. Probably a good idea for both of us!Thanks for all your kind comments and visiting my blog so often....I love to see your happy face there!!Love Kathiexoxo

okay, stop it! you are giving me a big head! i appreciate all your kind comments, thank you so much! Hey,I have a love-hate relationship with my treadmill too, but we can make a pact together to get the hell on that thing okay! I'm in if you are! xOxO deb

You are the sweetest! ANd, I'm glad you're keeping a positive attitude about the wellness thing, and not beating yourself up if you miss a goal here or there. I am with you on the stress eating too. If I get stressed I eat. And it's usually not broccoli or salad if you know what I mean! lol.

Oh Lisa, you're an amazing person...and I say, as far as the wellness goes, I think it makes all the difference just to be AWARE! Aware of what you're doing, feeling, eating, sleeping, etc...I so often am so absent from my own thoughts, but lately I've tried to be more aware of what's happening and it sounds like that's just what you're doing too! Big Blogger Hugs your way! ****HUGGGGG****

Good for you for pushing yourself to be better. I think you are already fabulous, my dear :)I want to thank you for the comments on my blog. Yes, it is a controversial subject and I know many were afraid to comment. Thanks for sticking your neck out there, it means a lot to me!Have a spectacular Wednesday, Lisa!

Lisa, don't be so hard on yourself!! A few slipups here and there aren't bad, and sometimes other things in life are more important to take care of and you can always get back to it or make up for it!!Thank you sooooo much for your warm, thoughtful comment on my blog the other day. I have found so many wonderful warm friends in the scrapping and blogging world, and hats off to you!!! you are among them!! Have a wonderful day!!! And pat yourself on the back from me!

My closet stinks mainly bc I recently gave away all my before baby clothes.ALl the junior size 3-4 stuff that I've been holdin on to. I dont think I will ever be back in that size again even if I lose the extra 10 pounds.

I found both of those tops at Burlington coat factory. I'm cheap so I always hit the discount type stores like Burlington, Ross, TJ Maxx first for tops and purses. I only spent $61 and got 2 tops, cami tank, the purse, the cell case, and a pair of Levis. The same cell case sells for $30 at Best Buy. I was happy.

PS. A couple tootsie rolls never hurt anybody. Its been smarties for me this week.

I think that you are doing great with your wellness challenge, sometimes life happens to us and we miss 1 day of working out (this coming from the girl that has worked out 1 week in the past 5 years LOL) but seriously, if you miss one day because you had a busy day or were just too tired it's ok as long as you know that you can not use that excuse over and over again. As for the kiddos rocking your world....is that what I have to look forward too when I think my girls have moved out? Ha ha ha! Look at it this way, thought they have brought in chaos it's nice to have your babies to hug and look at. Have a wonderful week! BTW, thank you for always leaving me sweet, positive messages, you are one of a kind.

I see I have missed a few blogs. I love the scrapping work you did a few blogs before this one. And just let me say wow and how much a motivation from this post I am getting about myself and kicking myself back into gear but not kicking myself for losing the motivation. I love that you wrote that your not trying to be perfect and that this is what works for you. I need to get the same feeling in my head. I got real mad at myself for eating some cookies last night and I havent worked out since last week...but we did order a new work out machine and I cant wait till it comes in!! We get safety points from work and we get free stuff! And this machine was on there!!! Good luck at work with the audit..I know I dont want one of those at my work! Thanks for the wonderful inspiration that I always get from reading your blog!

It sounds like you are doing great Lisa. Don't be so hard on yourself. A girl can always sneak a few tootsie rolls into her diet from time to time:) I am on the same journey and it is HARD but just keep plugging away and you will see results. More importantly feeling good is what matters most. Have a super weekend!

You know the saying "it's all good"? Well, it's not, but it does always get better eventually. I ahve to always, ALWAYS remind myself of that! Between having cancer (it's gone now) and being sick for 4 years not knowing it was cancer, my child is going through the Terrible 2's right now, we are stuck in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment with 4 kids, there's issues going on....I just keep thinking, things always get better eventually! Just keep thinking that!

Awww don't be so hard on yourself...You will have good days and bad days...and BELIEVE me....Im an Accouting manager and Human Resources Director and that's stressful...and so are audits!! If you need to cheat....just drink lots of water!!!!

You are Rocking this wellness kick Lisa, I love that conversation you have with yourself.. lol sounds like me. Hope things settle down a bit, but you have a Great attitude and way of dealing with the curves being thrown your way! Have an awesome weekend and hope you win with IE!!

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Who Am I?

I'm a 40-something, single, empty-nester who is working to find herself on a daily basis. I've stumbled my way through divorce, children fleeing the nest and a broken engagement relying on my faith every step of the way. My latest adventure has been a run-in with Stage 3 breast cancer. Never knowing what curve-ball life will throw next, I'm resolved to Takin' Life One Day At A Time.